Interlocking sheet-metal piling.



s. T. PIERO. IN'IERLOCKING SHEET METAL FILING.

PPLIOATION FILED DEQ. 10, 1908.

Patented June 8, 1909.y

@munten any material resistance against.

Neemfie.

cost ol the sheet; :inol hor lo'i'ni prox .id f erally-extendiii;r rihs, lili!- tlicsesiiiiply Form Vvanchoring structures lo prevent fmoi'en'icnt of the sheet laterally iii the planeoi its 'ifi-ces UNITED s'TATEs PATENT OFFICE.

" `Amiiiitqiidii eisirnecembe; 1e", fi'eosf 'sei-ier 46ans.

.To all .whom it may. @encore-.f

Be it knowntlint l, SLA'rici T. Finire, `a

citizen of the United States oiAn'ieri-f'm residing' at Pittsburg' 1n the count): of Allegl'ieny end State or' Pennsylvania., have invented certa-in `new and isel'ul liinnfove-l i'iients in Interlocking` ,Sheet-Metal Filing, .oi

' which the following is a speci'lieation, reference being .had therein to theviiccoiiipanying drawing'.` l I I, t i Y,

lily invention relatesv to improvements in sheet metal piling', preferably of the type having` the longitudinal edges foi'ined tjo provide interlocking` engagement between n ,adjacent sheets, and commonly usedrintlie construction of retaining walls, piers, abutnients, Wells, foun'dation :ind suhiiiaiiiiestructures,v and vWork requiring the use of i'netallic reinforcing structures, the present invention. re-

siding particularly in the orniand const-rnction ofthe body-portion oi the piling' intermediate the interlockii '"-ed.estructure.;,

Sheet-metal piling 'lien in position jior ous directions,r and the value ol the piling` re4 sides in its ability to resist such, strains. Where pilingsheets .fire intcrloekahly conf neeted together along; their edges, the vinterlocking structure. in itselz ioijins strain-resisting iiieans-.oiy a character irhich k'will practically prevent bending or hrcalii i the pilingalong itsedges: the inl erinediate or bodypoi'tioii of the sheets, however, heine; Q;enerally in the form' of Het sheet and unsupported hy a sxlieci" lin siipcrposi-il relation thereto, does-not possess suchstrainlressling qualities as the cdgrcs and hence l'orins the weakest portion of the sheet., '.lo remedy this Wealiiicss, various iiielliods have been employed..v -For instance, the thickness oll the. sheet has. liccn 'iiicreiisoih :l-hirchy in-l cieasingtlie weight oi" the liod `\`f-l`rdrtion per sin: thc

es latsquare foot and neccssziiiily; incre Without providing; an 'increasedlstrain-ref s istanee on the sheetprol'ieit; still anot Aerforin f' Specification of Letters Patent; 4 Y

vpartiinilarly pointed Iatentedfnne 8,1909.

thesheet in directions extending al right an# gies to the plane of the sheet, nor do they pro videen'y material resistance :igriiinst movevsistence is produced against strains exeried ,hot-h' in the planeoi' the sheet and :it right :iii-

,fgles to such planesncli strain-resistmice bcing' provided by the use oi' :i sii'eiig'ili-rcinh forcing" structure lorined within the `body-V portion and :itl-lie saine time retaining the continuity of such body-portion. l

The principal object of my invention is, therefore, to provide the piling body-portion with one or more strengthsreinlorcing elenientsintcrinediate of andA exteniiling' paroilel with the interlockable edge portions ol the sheet.. l L A further Objectis to provide n const-ruction in which the thicknessl of the material of .the sheet is not ii'iereased intermediate its edges.` s

A further object is to iiiroride a construction Awhich can be readily formed by the wellliiiown rolling piiuxiss. y

A further object ol the invention is to pro ride n constinction which will prevent bending, buckling' or :i longitudinal de'lleution o'r'zi i'listorting oi' the body-portion of the sheet (hiring the driving operatioiisavliicli would injure the initial strengtlsof the sheet forre-V taining or supporting purposes'.

'lo these und othcri ends, the nature olY which will he iinderst'opd as the invention is hereinafter disclosed, said invention consists -iii 'the iniprovcd construction and combina-f' lt-ioii of parts l'iereiiui-lter fully described, illus-n vlnthe` accompanying drawings, in which,

iliaractersindicate similar A partsy in each oitlie views,- F`iglii'es 1, 2, 3

andjll illustrate end views of varioiis forms of :los

similar refereneev sheet piling einbodyingmy invention. .l The principal feature of the present invention is ythe strength-reinforce, and this eon-kA sistswin. placing within the normal plane of the; sheet (the plane of 'a line connecting the edgejportions) one vor more portions which extendat approximate right anglestothe;

p,lane. "of.tlie sheet, these portions lbeing i formed in continuity with the-bod -portionA of the sheet.

The rovision oi t ese portions places within t e body ofthe sheet oney connected, and as these an lforms for' or more portions whose length, inv cross-section, extends at .audirect angle to the length ofthe. body portions with which they are larly extending portions areconnected toit ebody-portions at bpth ends of. their-length, `they provide a straln-resistin element which prevents any` bending, buc ing or distortion of the bodyportion either when the sheetv is'bein driven arious providing thiselement are illustrated in\t e drawings. For the purpose of more clearly illustrating the construction and relation of this feature tothe sheet, I have shown the configuration of a complete or when -it 'is in position for use.

sheet, andy in 'Figsl and 2 have illustratedl one of many differentjsways in whichY adjacent sheets may be interlocked, that shown in the drawing beinga` structureand arrangement of parts formingl the subjectsheet provide the interlocking edges,'and the present instance vare shown as in the form of a hook 6 connected to the ian e 2 by vtheportion 8,'and`ter1ninating in a bil 9, the.

construction providing an open groove 7 Within which the hookof-the adjacent membei' extends.' 'Thisconstruction of the sheetconnecting meaiais preferred, but, as horetofore stated,` the resent invention ma be yemployedwithl oft er forms .ofinterlociing edges# Referring now more particularly lto the strength-remforce, thesheet 1 is bent, at one or4 more pointsv intermediate the 'flanges 2 l[and 3, at a direct angle to'the plane of the sheet, forming'a'portion or-portions 5 which fexte'nd'at approximately right angles to the planefofgthe sheet. In the form shown in Fig. 1, twof'such `bentportions 5 are shown l,spaced-a art" and projecting from the same 4 vslde 'of t e sheet, said, portions being :con-

ne'cted at their opposite endsby a connecting the' channel ofgrig. 1 aide portion11sy 'Ihls' construction provides a 'channel'within the lane `of the sheet, "within .v'vhichvv the l materia in which 4'the y p iling is placed isflocate'd andthereby provi ing materialon'each'side vof the sheet 1 and its parts forcingielements arep'r vided. In Fig'. 2,

providinglour,elements-5, each of which is connectedatits opposite ends with the bodyportionI othesh'eet, although the latter is not continuous within a single plane. In

piling sheet.

' claims.

pli'cfated, thereby Fig,V 3 the channelsl are located on opposite .sides of the plane of the sheet and are ar.-

rangedclose together, thereby providing two p elements 5 of equal len th and an intermediate element of a lengt substantially equal to the combined length ofthe two outer elements.

In each of the forms shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the lane ofthe sheet is approximately that. of alline connecting the edges of the sheet;-it is obvious, however, that this uni- Y formity may be varied. For linstance, in Fig'. 4, th'e sheet does not extend ina plane corresponding with thelane of such line but is angular thereto and ii termediate its length the element 5, the sheet in" this case extending in two parallel planes none of which coincide with the plane of such line. This construction, however, provides what-may be termed a channel on opposite sides of the element 5,

As will be readily understood, the ,constructions herein set forth not 'only provide a structure havingthe strength of theI- beam, but in addition thereto place within the web' of the I-beam the strengthening qualities of the channelbar structure produced vby the elements 5 and their connecting portions, so that there lis provided a strainresisting structure of maximum capacity, this .result being obtained Without destroying the continuity of the body-portion, in-

creasing the thickness of the material, or

making use of projecting portions such as ribs, and yet obtaining all of the advantages of the rib structure with respect to preventin creeping of the' sheets.

hile I have herein disclosed several forms-for carrying my invention into effect, it Will. be readily understood Vthat the same may be varied 'as by changing the configuration ofthe channels and their Walls, .and I reserve the right to make any and all such changes and modiiications therein as may 'fall within ,the spirit and scope of my invention as expressed in the accompanying Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

,1. A sheet-metal iling comprising an I- beam having ,centrali longitudinal channelsha ed strength-reinforcing structures upon eac rside thereof.

2. A sheet-metal piling comprising an I- beam having longitudinal channel-shaped strength reinforcing structures spaced equally relative to the longitudinal edges of said piling.

3. A sheet-metal iling comprising an I'- beam having a longitudinal channel-shaped lst rengthenin structure. 4.' nInterloc ing sheet-metal piling com- .prising` anI-beam, a central channel-shaped strengthenin st-ructure, and locking members carriedv y the flanges of the beam and aving at a point in-A lOO providing open grooves adapted. to receive adjoining members. j

. 5.l A sheet-metal lling comprising a coinbined I-beani and c iannel-bar, said Channelbar being arranged intermediate the longitudinal edges of the I-bearn.'V

' 6. interlocking sheet-metal piling coinprising a beam having a central Channelshaped strength-reinforcing structure, said be'arn also having aflongitudinal open groove formed therein for an adjoining piling.

7. `A sheet-metal piling comprising a beam having longitudinal strength-reinforoing elements arranged at right anglesvto said beam,

J5 said elements being l,Connected together.

S. In sheet-metal piling, a sheet body'- portion having an intermediate angular strength-reinforein structure.

9. In sheet-meta piling, a sheet body-portion of uniform thickness and having n strength-reinforce element extending anguor more elements extending angular with respect to une plane of and in continuity with the sheet.

11. In sheet-metal piling, a sheet bodyportion of uniform thickness and having one or-inore. elements extending angular withrespent to the plane of and in continuity with the sheet, said elements forming spaced channels 'on opposite sides'of the sheet.

vIn testimony whereof I aliix my signature in the' presence oftwo witnesses. l

SLATER T. FIERO.

Witnesses:

' MAX H. SRoLovrrz,

K. H. BUTLER. 

